Sri Prabandhavali (A Collection of Devotional Essays)

Our goddess is Srimati Radhika; besides Her we have no other. The highest ideal Gosvami. Near the end of his life he took exclusive shelter of Radha-kunda and prayed:

“O Srimati, I am Yours only, Yours only” – he wanted Radhika to hear him say this twice. “I cannot live without You, so please bring me to the shelter of Your feet and appoint me to Your service.”

It is a matter of great happiness that we can now present this second edition of Sri Prabendhavali before our Vaisnava readers. This book is a compilation of lectures spoken originally in Hindi by our most worshipful Srila Gurudeva, om visnupada astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja. The first edition of this book was published in 1996, just before Srila Gurudeva's first preaching tour of Western countries.

Observing the festival days outlined in the Vaisnava calendar is an important aspect of devotional practice. Srila Gurudeva always speaks on the appropriate topic on such days, whether it be the appearance or disappearance day of a prominent Vaisnava acarya , the appearance day of an incarnation of Bhagavan, or any other significant day. Of the eleven lectures included within this book, nine are lectures that he spoke on significant dates from the Vaisnava calendar. The word prabandha means an essay and avali means a collection. We are confident that devotees will find this Sri Prebendhavali helpful in their sincere efforts to honour these important days.

The material herein was spoken during 1989 and 1991 at Sri Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura and Sri Rupa Sanatana Gaudiya Matha in Vrndavana. The only exception is the chapter on Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, which was compiled from three separate lectures spoken in English in the early 1990s.

In this second edition a glossary has been added to assist readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit terminology. Also, the book has been redesigned and typeset to a higher standard. Acknowledgment goes to Lavanga-lata dasi for copy-editing this second edition, to Rsabhadeva dasa and Santi dasi for proofreading the final manuscript, to Atula-krsna dasa for checking the Sanskrit, to Krsna-prema dasa for designing the new cover and to Subala-sakha dasa for providing the new photograph of Srila Gurudeva. This publication is yet another manifestation of Srila Gurudeva's great mercy. Together we offer it into his hands and pray that he will bless us with the necessary qualification to continue serving him in this way. Hare Krsna.